The passing of time can take on a variety of colors & inflections: Narrative is thus only ever provisionally linear. Different moments take on different affective qualities, some perhaps moving forward, some pointing back. Generations of musicians engage the sculpting of time then, not only in the moment of (perhaps improvisatory) musical performance, but also across the human realm, i.e. across lives & relations. For some, performances & articulations are always underway, in process.... So when Ernesto Rodrigues variously engages worlds beyond humanity, the worlds of creatures or ecological scenes or atomic phenomena, he is humanizing those worlds, i.e. articulating them sonically for himself, moreover with & for others, forging (sometimes ephemeral) relations: Creative Sources has then cultivated e.g. spectral music more generally, i.e. (natural) overtone relations subsuming the history of Western chromaticism & its twelve distinct tones — but also in terms of both Western instrumental practice & (often...) small collective bands or ensembles of musicians. Just as distinctions between different notes of traditional scales might blur (yielding to a distributed field of relations...), distinctions between different musicians, including the superficially different timbres of their instruments, might blur in performance as well.... Yet, fields of individual virtuosity do still (re)appear.
And for this Not Bad quartet, an assemblage spanning three generations, individual virtuosity does indeed feature, including in traditionally free & jazzy solos, but also as an aspect of forging a coherent whole. The result before us, well over an hour of dense musical interaction, is thus more directly expressive than many Creative Sources albums, often featuring strong rhythmic coloring from one of the pioneers of the European Free Jazz scene, Günter "Baby" Sommer of Dresden. Yet this melding of impulses & styles is not only about looking backward toward a legend of the previous generation, but forward as well: Ernesto is joined in this quartet performance by his son, Guilherme Rodrigues, only 34 years old, but the veteran of well over a hundred albums on Creative Sources & elsewhere, as well as by young Portuguese horn player, Gonçalo Mortágua. (And it's not only the Rodrigueses forging this link with Sommer, but very much Mortágua as well. He initiated the session via teaching connections, and the two can frequently be found interlocked, in traditionally jazzy duo interactions, suggestive of one pole here....) And so, just as a septuagenarian called Baby already seems destined for a (paradoxical) play of generations, for their prior album together (again on Creative Sources, 2020), Gonçalo & Guilherme appear themselves as (2 of) As 3 Velhas....
Such paradoxes might even broadly define something of the European improvising style per se, "paradoxes" of freedom seeming an especially Old World notion.... (A sort of conscious multidimensionality becomes an aspect of free music's affective contours, one might say. And for Baby & others, those dimensions embrace humor too.) But history isn't always inflected this way: Sommer himself confronts his own influences perhaps most explicitly (& linearly) on his 2013 solo album Dedications for Intakt, including his connection to Baby Dodds, i.e. in the distinct coloring of each beat of the rhythmic cycle. And Sommer does command the ensemble at times, virtuosically holding together a sort of free take on classic jazz already on "Verve," but only after a sort of arrhythmic timelessness can dominate portions of "Abertura." In many ways, the remainder of the album does reflect that opening, as the musicians continue to shift through different styles & perspectives, different plays of light. Indeed, soon Guilherme's probing held tone asks what is real or what is a dream, casting different spells, the ensemble sometimes shades into seemingly distant colors.... (So the term "spectral" can come to suggest its two meanings here, particularly as shifting tones trouble our sense of distinct "notes" — or temporalities.)
But the beginning, that sense of aperture (& perhaps unreality), followed by the traditional take on cacophonous jazz, is far from the full story. "Invocação" consummates a strong "world vibe" next, not only an obvious inspiration for both Baby & Ernesto, but for "jazz" as an ongoing project in general: Here, e.g. flute soon pairs distinctively with mouth harp & then woodblocks — continuing to recall natural sounds themselves coloring human perception & so human music. (Later in the album there's also a nocturne, involving again quiet zoomimesis....) It can almost feel as if we're back in the 1960s (or actually, 70s...), including pace the suite of movements here: There's an overall sweep to the sequence (pace "progressive" albums...), but most tracks have their own formal complexities & narrative arcs too, rhythmic choreography sometimes bending, or even fading away... i.e. back to a sort of timbre music (of perhaps rubbing instead of striking, blurring instead of articulating intervals of time...). Or sometimes the drums are jazzily (or worldly...) assertive & in control. So time itself does come to take on different colors, inflecting forward & back, parsing different worlds, maybe going beyond.... That is, until — pending another pass through the urban scene — it seems that by "Letzter Wurf," Baby is ready to retire to the beach. Todd M. McComb California, 20 October 2022

Recorded by Tito Knapp on June 15th 2022 in Studio Zentri Fuge, Berlin.
Mixed and mastered by Dietrich Petzold.
Graphic design by Carlos Santos.
Liner notes by Todd McComb.

REVIEWS

This time Rodrigues family team up with the legend of the German free jazz, Günter "Baby" Sommer, and a phenomenal reed player, Gonçalo Mortágua, under the name of Not Bad quartet. As explained in the liner noted on Bandcamp: "And for this Not Bad quartet, an assemblage spanning three generations, individual virtuosity does indeed feature, including in traditionally free & jazzy solos, but also as an aspect of forging a coherent whole. The result before us, well over an hour of dense musical interaction, is thus more directly expressive than many Creative Sources albums, often featuring strong rhythmic coloring from one of the pioneers of the European Free Jazz scene, Günter "Baby" Sommer of Dresden. Yet this melding of impulses & styles is not only about looking backward toward a legend of the previous generation, but forward as well: Ernesto is joined in this quartet performance by his son, Guilherme Rodrigues, only 34 years old, but the veteran of well over a hundred albums on Creative Sources & elsewhere, as well as by young Portuguese horn player, Gonçalo Mortágua. 588 CHAPTER 42. ERNESTO AND GUILHERME RODRIGUES (And it's not only the Rodrigueses forging this link with Sommer, but very much Mortágua as well. He initiated the session via teaching connections, and the two can frequently be found interlocked, in traditionally jazzy duo interactions, suggestive of one pole here....) And so, just as a septuagenarian called Baby already seems destined for a (paradoxical) play of generations, for their prior album together (again on Creative Sources, 2020), Gonçalo & Guilherme appear themselves as (2 of) As 3 Velhas..."
The music carries indeed new qualities ion comparison to the "standard" Rodrigues family free minimalism output (which never is really standard). Sommer introduces much stronger free jazz rhythmic component, provoking also Gonçalo to play with more free jazz expression. The quartet presents 8 track, and already the first two, 8 minutes long "Abertura" and nearly 10 minutes long "Verve" throw the listeners on their knees, as we say. But, for me the highlights are: over ten minutes long "Invocação", perhaps the most peaceful track with a truly majestic bamboo flute part, and 8 minutes long "Grenze zu", also with great bamboo flute lines. Surprising music from Rodrigues family et consortes, but very interesting and beautiful!!! Maciej Lewenstein

Kontynuujemy przegląd nowości płytowych familii Rodrigues – ojca altowiolinisty i syna wiolonczelisty. Po wyśmienitym albumie popełnionym w towarzystwie Dirka Serriesa, dziś zaglądamy na kolejną intrygującą sesję nagraniową, podczas której kameralnie na ogół usposobieni Ernesto i Guilherme spotykają legendę niemieckiego free jazzu Güntera Sommera, a do kwartetu dobierają jeszcze portugalskiego tenorzystę, któremu do estetyki sławnego drummera niebywale blisko. Album dokumentujący sesję jest bardzo bogaty w wydarzenia, mieni się wszystkimi kolorami tęczy, ale bez dwóch zdań niesie spory ładunek prawdziwie free jazzowych emocji. Jak w tych gęstych okolicznościach narracyjnych radzą sobie nasi mistrzowie kameralnego minimalizmu? Oczywiście, doskonale! Zapraszamy na wnikliwy odsłuch i odczyt płyty nazwanej nieco przewrotnie Not Bad.
Otwarcie albumu ma charakter zdecydowanie rozpoznawczy, ale już po dwóch minutach swobodnej wymiany myśli, lepiona z długich i krótkich fraz opowieść nabiera rumieńców i pewnej meta taneczności. Tworzą ją jazzowo frazujący saksofon, perkusja zatopiona w rytmie i roztańczone, ekspresyjne strunowce. Druga narracja definitywnie przenosi nas już do świata rozśpiewanego, aylerowskiego free jazzu. Połamane rytmy, głęboki tembr tenoru, cello frazujące niczym kontrabas i viola w roli tej, której wolno tu wszystko. W trzeciej ekspozycji dynamika nagrania zostaje wyhamowana. Skrzypiące struny na otwarcie, zalotny flet i pulsujące dźwięki nieznanego przedmiotu w rękach perkusjonalisty. Opowieść o posmaku ethno rozwija się dość leniwie aż do ósmej minuty, gdy narracja zostaje oddana w ręce saksofonu i perkusji. W czwartej improwizacji muzycy bez zbędnych wstępów wpadają w ramiona roztańczonego free jazzu, dyktując sobie niezłe tempo dzięki pizzicato wiolonczeli. Narracja przez moment zdaje się tu delikatnie rozpływać w sennych marzeniach, ale to jedynie zmyślne podprowadzenie pod wielką kulminację, wieńczącą całą opowieść.
Piąta improwizacja także kipi energią, choć tworzy ją plejada drobnych, urywanych fraz. Okrzyki, strunowe preparacje i śpiew dęciaka - wszystko płynie tu w rytmie podyktowanym przez perkusję. W kolejnej opowieści powraca flet, który dyskutuje z ciszą i mikro frazami altówki. Cello & drums budzą się do życia po dwóch minutach. Ów nieco nerwowy chillout z czasem nabiera rumieńców i idealnie podprowadza nas pod dwie improwizacje w duetach. Pierwsza z nich w estetyce perkusjonalnej, kreowana jest przez skaczący po gryfie wiolonczeli smyczek oraz drumming po misach i talerzach. W drugim duecie altówka i saksofon jednoczą siły w zalotnie brzmiących, chwilami preparowanych dźwiękach.
Po kilku krótszych utworach na koniec albumu dostajemy bardziej rozbudowane w czasie ekspozycje. Dziewiąta część pisana jest wyjątkowo leniwą strugą dźwięków. Szeleszczące perkusjonalia, bezdźwięcznie szorowane struny, dęte odgłosy niczym kocie piski. Z czasem saksofon zaczyna budować matowe drony, a w tle pomagają mu rezonujące talerze. Piękna, smutna ballada! W dziesiątej opowieści nerw życia powraca – okrzyki i rwane frazy budowane metodą call & responce. Muzycy skaczą i śpiewają w rytmie perkusji, która zdobi improwizację także odcinkiem solowym. Wreszcie finałowa opowieść, która rozpoczyna się bardzo delikatnymi frazami, doposażonymi w sporą dawkę melodii. Przez moment narracja spoczywa na barkach wiolonczeli i altówki, potem ster przejmuje drummer, który kreuje gorące emocje i dyktuje niemal opętańcze tempo! Na samo zakończenie składają się tu dwa wątki – z jednej strony strunowe, niskie drony, z drugiej mantryczny drumming. Całość gaśnie w strumieniu szeleszczących perkusjonalii. Andrzej Nowak (Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej)

Tandem père et fils insigne de l’avant- garde improvisée radicale de ces vingt dernières années, le violiste (alto) Ernesto Rodrigues et le violoncelliste Guilherme Rodrigues ont le culot de s’associer avec un grand nombre d’improvisateurs, certains au registre et à la démarche particulièrement éloignées de leurs préoccupations sonores. Malgré son adhésion à l’expression minimaliste exploratoire « lower case » conceptuelle ou new silence en existence depuis les alentours de l’an 2000, Ernesto n’a jamais jeté l’enfant avec l’eau du bain. D’ailleurs, il suffit d’écouter son fils Guilherme dans ses deux récents opus solitaires « Cascata » et « Acoustic Reverb » pour réaliser l’étendue de leurs préoccupations musicales. Ici, il n’y a pas moins que le légendaire batteur Saxon Günter Sommer, un incontournable de la free music européenne au parcours particulièrement fructueux. Associé à ses camarades de la première heure Ulrich Gumpert, Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky et les frères Bauer, on l’a entendu en Solo (Hörmuzik) avec Peter Brötzmann, Fred Van Hove, Barre Phillips, Leo Smith et Peter Kowald, Gianni Gebbia, Didier Levallet et Sylvain Kassap, Cecil Taylor, Irene Schweizer etc… Avec le saxophoniste Gonçalo Mortagua, il assure fermement le pôle « free-jazz de ce curieux assemblage, les deux Rodrigues et leurs frottements d’archets atonaux, pour la face impro radicale. Gonçalo Mortagua joue du sax ténor et de la flûte de bambou (6 Grenze Zu), et n’essaie pas de se référer à des grandes voix du saxophone free-jazz (Ornette, Ayler, Trane, Lacy etc..), mais crée son langage à partir de sa propre expérience et de son imaginaire . Not Bad, car cette session challenge délibérément audacieuse qui aurait pu se révéler incertaine est loin d’être mauvaise. Pour ces deux cordistes, le choix de Günter Sommer est très avisé, car ce batteur âgé de 80 ans s’est adapté merveilleusement à la dynamique et au volume sonore de l’altiste et du violoncelliste et leur remarquable aptitude à jouer de concert en imbriquant leur jeux respectifs comme s’ils n’étaient qu’une seule personne. Dès l’ouverture (1. Abertura), Sommer a trouvé le registre adéquat, martelant légèrement sa grosse caisse en ostinato en osmose avec le mouvement des deux archets sur leurs cordes frottées et leurs crissements, harmoniques, sons étouffés, oscillations enguirlandées et moirures d’une finesse inouïe. Son drumming reste discret, ouvrant le champ sonore à l’expression de ses collègues parfois hyperactifs, mais souvent au bord du silence, lui-même avec une belle variété de frappes. Le lyrisme de Mortagua peut alors s’élancer avec sa fraîcheur et son imagination. Il n’en fait pas trop, conservant son timbre caractéristique réellement adéquat à ceux du cello et de l’alto. Au fil de la séance, la musique évolue vers plus d’échanges interactifs, deux duos (7.Duo 8. Unduo) cello - ténor et une pièce particulièrement enlevée où le batteur nous livre un solo remarquable à son début (10. Untitled). Les cas de figures et les ambiances différentes se multiplient et font de cette rencontre atypique une excellente expérience d’écoute et de découverte. Cette association momentanée change complètement la perspective sonore et créative de ces quatre musiciens dans leur univers « habituel » et c’est quand même formidable de les entendre dialoguer et collaborer sur la base de l’écoute immédiate avec des artistes très différents d’eux-mêmes. La musicalité réelle n’a pas de limites sauf dans les présupposés des étiqueteurs primesautiers. Magnifique album. Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg (Orynx)

Nesta edição Creative Sources estão reunidos Gonçalo Mortágua, Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues e Gunter “Baby” Sommer. Uma boa surpresa: música sem barreiras, sem preconceitos.
“Not Bad” é o primeiro trabalho do quarteto que junta Gonçalo Mortágua no saxofone tenor e flauta de bambu, Ernesto Rodrigues na viola d’arco, Guilherme Rodrigues no violoncelo, Gunter “Baby” Sommer na percussão, e espelha a ideia abstrata de sobreposição dinâmica de camadas sonoras esguias, que por vezes se misturam e adquirem um caráter próprio, à medida que a música avança. É uma formação menos usual, já que não há a figura do contrabaixo nos graves e sim do violoncelo, o que torna o disco algo particular. Foi gravado em 2022, no Studio Zentri Fuge, em Berlim. As composições foram construídas em coletivo. 
É notória a presença de diferentes influências musicais. Claro que isso acontecerá sempre, nenhum artista está dissociado da sua trajetória de vida, mas o que ressalta em “Not Bad” é a capacidade dos quatro músicos para coser os diferentes retalhos que constroem uma manta diversa. Com muita fluidez, ao longo das 11 faixas do disco caminha-se por um espetro sonoro alargado. Face aos músicos envolvidos, e como seria expectável, há influências de jazz e free jazz, música improvisada, mas também de música “tradicional”, a trazer-nos sons e frases que lembram a natureza, ou remontam para ambientes instrumentais do cancioneiro popular português.
O álbum inicia-se com “Abertura”, onde o som da percussão chega como se vindo de um mundo subterrâneo e intimista, ao qual se junta o arco da viola e, posteriormente, o violoncelo e o saxofone. É um acordar que se faz devagar, atento aos pormenores. Em “Invocação” é trazida a combinação de sons perdidos algures no tempo como, por exemplo, a mistura de melodias do berimbau de boca com a flauta de bambu, algo pouco escutado por estes dias e que remonta, como já referido, à musicalidade de um passado de música tradicional, concertada com a intervenção da viola d’arco, de carácter persistente e cíclico, causando ambiente de tensão.
Em todo o disco a percussão tem um papel muito determinante, mas ao escutarmos “Instant Impressions”, seguida de “Untitled”, Gunter “Baby” Summer revela-nos de forma clara toda a sua bagagem musical, a sua assertividade e dialética rítmica destacam-se. O que vem novamente a confirmar-se em “Letzter Wurf”. Mas, ainda em “Untitled”, é salientada a combinação perfeita deste quarteto, com criações musicais de cada um a encontrar-se com o todo, reforçando novamente a ideia de camadas, permitindo que cada músico se expresse individual e coletivamente. Esta faixa é uma das mais fortes do disco, a terminar num ambiente musical um pouco punk/rock, a surgir em jeito de surpresa.  O violoncelo demonstra toda a sua energia e versatilidade em “Duo”, onde se expressa em conjunto com a percussão. O caminho pelo instrumento é de tal forma amplo, que por vezes nos questionamos se se trata de facto do violoncelo ou da viola, dado alguns elementos agudos usados em pizzicato.
O saxofone destaca-se, mas de forma equilibrada. Se em “Verve” toma um tom mais orgânico, até mais afirmativo e de acordo com o solicitado, por outro em “Unduo”, junto com a viola, demonstra a sua delicadeza a ajuste sonoros, acompanhando de forma minuciosa e dialogante, a linguagem rápida e precisa da viola, com uma personalidade muito própria, já conhecida de Ernesto Rodrigues. 
“Not Bad” é uma agradável surpresa e foge de um certo padrão a que por vezes nos habituamos a ouvir. É um disco sem barreiras, sem preconceitos, onde os músicos se entregam ao desconforto, sem medo – uma miscelânea que combina na perfeição. A sua originalidade e diversidade, é a sua riqueza. Sofia Rajado (Jazz.pt)

Reconstituting their usual string-centric improvisations to encompass more vigorous instruments Portuguese violist Ernesto Rodrigues and his son, cellist Guilherme Rodrigues improvise throughout this disc alongside Portuguese reed player Gonçalo Mortágua and legendary German percussionist Gunter "Baby" Sommer. While Mortágua, who usually plays in an Afro-soul band, creates thin flute peeps and tenor sax split tones, and minimalist swipes are familiar from Rodrigues' literally hundreds of lower case sessions. Sommer, now 80, projects the power and playfulness he has excelled in since the early 1970s.
But the percussionist never dominates. His only extended solo is on the penultimate "Untitled", where his vocal whoops introduce a compendium of ruffs, ratamacues and cymbal smashes that abut string shrieks and altissimo reed squawks. That doesn't mean Sommer isn't busy augmenting textures on the other tracks though. If he isn't rubbing drum tops or smacking wooden blocks, he's adding paradiddles and rebounds, bell pealing or twanging a Jew's harp. That last interjection is heard on "Invocacao", where it breaks up a dense exposition with strings stretched and staccato rubbing across fingerboards and flute trills leading to layered evolution. The cellist later adds double bass-like pulses and Mortágua, on tenor, harsh split tones. This transformation from micro to macro ends with a single cymbal ping.
Strategies like that brighten most interactions. Extended techniques from the strings include stretching timbres to encompass spiccato squeaks, steadily thinning slices and forceful scrubs. At points they divide with Ernesto's playing approaching melodicism while Guilherme slaps rhythmically. With a full husky tone, the saxophonist honks, tongue stops and uses finger vibrations. Or he climaxes an introduction of lacerating string slices on "Seide, Samt Und Kashmir" with expanding spetrofluctuation and cuckoo-clock like echoes until drum shuffles neutralize the narrative.
Obviously mis-titled, the improvisations and excitement engendered on this disc are more than Not Bad. Instead the description should be Very Good or perhaps Excellent. Ken Waxman (The Squid’s Ear)

Spanning three generations of improvisers, the duo of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues join with tenor saxophonist Gonçalo Mortágua and legendary percussionist Gunter Baby Sommer to record eleven diverse improvisations in the studio in Berlin, naming the quartet "Not Bad", an extreme understatement for their unique chamber influences of European Free Jazz. (Squidco)